Voices of Educational Pioneers Reflection

I was fascinated by the differing philosophies of education within Madonna M. Murphy’s compilation, The History and Philosophy of Education: Voices of Educational Pioneers.  I found it interesting how much variance there was in beliefs between philosophers, but also how many of their beliefs overlapped.  It is rather difficult for me to pick and choose just a few philosophers that I can identify the most with, as some philosophers held beliefs that I agree with, but also some that I strongly disagree with.  Listed below quotes from the overviews of educational philosophers that I felt most accurately reflected my own personal beliefs.

1. Rosseau

“According to Rosseau, the right kind of education puts a child in direct contact with nature without the intermixture of opinions, i.e., it is education independent of society.”  It seems to me that Rosseau’s beliefs most closely align with those of existentialism, a philosophy that I agree with.  While I do not believe that education needs to occur entirely independent of society, I believe that students should be free to develop into their genuine “selves” without societal pressure; education should be a journey of self-discovery.  Rosseau was also the first philosopher to develop the concept of child-centered education in opposition to content-centered education.  I strongly believe that education should be focused on the student before the content.

2. Pestalozzi

“[Pestalozzi] believed that children were made up of head, heart, hand, body, feelings, and intellect, thus introducing the concept of educating the “whole child” long before the twentieth-century theorists advocated this… The purpose of education, according to Pestalozzi, was to bring human beings in harmony with themselves by developing inherent mental, moral, and physical powers given them at birth.”  Like Rosseau, Pestalozzi focused on the child first, placing emphasis on well-rounded individual development.  For this reason, I feel as though Pestalozzi’s personal philosophy also mirrors that of existentialism.  I especially love the idea of the purpose of education as “to bring human beings in harmony with themselves.”  I believe that before anything else, students need to learn who they are as individuals, and then learn how to love themselves.

3. Wollstonecraft

Wollstonecraft’s book Thoughts on the Education of Daughters was “robustly censorious, disapproving of baby talk, cosmetics, theatre, frivolity, and artificial manners.  Mary recommends physical exercise for the body as the foundation of mental exercise.  She insists that women acquire critical thought capacity by reflecting on their experiences.”  Not only am I a firm supporter of women’s rights, even in the twenty-first century, I also very much appreciate Wollstonecraft’s belief that physical exercise enhances mental exercise, and that women should be able to be physically active as well.  As a female runner, I have faced criticism for partaking in an activity that isn’t considered inherently “feminine.”  However, running and being active empowers me and helps unlock my mental capacity for learning and reflection.  Thus, I completely understand what Wollstonecraft is referring to.  I also believe in the power of reflection for all learners, male and female.  (The same goes for physical exercise.)

4. Dewey

“The idea of growth, or the reconstruction of experience, is central to Dewey’s educational theory.  One should not regard education as a preparation for life, but rather as a process of living in itself.”  Dewey developed/advocated for many of the educational practices that I most agree with, such as hands-on/experiential learning, interdisciplinary units, student choice and freedom, democratic education, child-centered and society-centered education, and multicultural education.